Kid, the next time I say, "Let's go someplace like Bolivia," let's GO someplace like Bolivia.

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Tossin’ It Out There: Who’s YOUR Favorite Movie Character?

On last week’s (title pending), Tank brought up the idea of favorite movie characters, and I was caught unprepared. There are SO many! Every movie brings another five to ten into play, but even if there’s just one decent one each movie, that’s still an enormous field of potential candidates. Granted, there’s only a handful of memorable characters a year, but as the decades roll by, they pile up!

Indy, Hannibal Lecter, Maximus, Ripley, Peter Venkman, I could rattle off dozens, without even thinking. Ferris Bueller, John McClane, Harry Potter… seriously, there are millions.

Who’s YOUR favorite? What character is most memorable for you? Why? What makes you prefer them to others? It’s a great discussion topic because there have been so many great ones over the years, populating so many great movies.

This one got me thinking!
-The Joker
-Darth Vader
-The Skull (your man in the sunglasses that shoots Scarface in the back with a shotgun)
-H.A.L
– Walter Sobchak
and
-Sheriff Bell (No Country For Old Men)

I just love characters whose sole purpose is to be a cool as hell badass! Greased back hair, leather jacket, pump-action shotgun, silent, kills someone who thinks he’s a badass….he’s not exactly the most well rounded character… but he’s immense!

Interesting question. Any character? Or are we just talking about characters who transcend the collaborative nature of film and stand out as their own icon? The Dude makes for a great pop culture icon who has some weird measure of relevancy outside the context of The Big Lebowski (though that movie is so great that I have nothing but pity for those who know The Dude because of the referential nature of pop culture), and honestly he’s an easy favorite of mine– his philosophy can’t be beat. The Dude abides. White Russians and easy living. How do you go wrong with that? (I mean, when you aren’t being terrorized by German nihilists or rail-roaded by a rich guy with the same name as you.)

But if we’re talking about franchise characters or characters from a film series, well, that’s another story and I would probably have to go with Peter Falk playing himself in Wings of Desire. Falk has a number of great roles to his name, and maybe playing himself– or a version of himself, since I’m pretty sure Falk didn’t actually fall from Heaven no matter how much I love his work as an actor– is a bit “safe”, but what he adds to that film happens to be the element that I always come back to whenever I think about it or watch it.

Oh God, so many – Vincent Vega, Chad from “Burn after Reading”, Malcolm Tucker, Walter Sobchak, Sherlock Holmes as played by RDJ, Miranda Priestly, Mavis Gary, Marla Singer, Lisa Rowe, Lisbeth Salander, Severus Snape, Selina Kyle…If I had to chose one it would probably be Tucker, I laughed so much at his lines in “In the Loop” and The thick of it”

Although all of those are excellent choices, indeed. I actually swiped this gif from your site to use the last time Chad got brought up. :D Here he is again, still psyched to be getting mentioned here!

Nina is too much like me, I tend not to admire people like me, because of all of my flaws, obsession with perfection and working and worrying too much being some of those :) My fav of Black Swan is definetly Lily.

Some well known ones, some not so….
Indiana Jones is up there (has to be, my son is called Indy!)
Brett ( Harry Dean Stanton) in Alien … here kitty, kitty!
John McClane
Snake Plissken (Escape fromNY)
McCready (The Thing)
Otto (Emilio Estevez) Repo Man
William Blake ( Johnny Depp) Dead Man
The Priest (Alex Angulo) El Dia De La Bestia (The Day of The Beast)
Jack Goodman ( Griffen Dunne) An American Werewolf in London (although I could also namecheck several more from this movie….!)
Kad Merad (Philippe Abrams) The postmaster from the French Film, “Welcome to the Sticks (Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis) I Have relatives in Lille, France, where this is set, which makes it even more hilarious to watch!
Dae-su Oh – Oldboy, such a stellar performance… don’t watch the octopus scene on full stomach!

It’s easy to nominate George Bailey. After all, we see his whole life. And it’s wonderful.

Also, Andy Dufresne. And the entire cast of 12 Angry Men — I mean, you watch that for the characters, right? And Harold Crick. And Will Hunting.

I enjoy very geeky and difficult-to-relate-to characters, like Napoleon Dynamite (don’t hit me, Fogs) and Frank Darrbo/Crimson Bolt (Super). And animated characters also need their recognition, as they are often more relatable than live action ones — Jack Skellington, Flint Lockwood (if you haven’t seen Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, you really should), and Lilo immediately come to mind.

Randal. Graves. Now that’s how to score points around here! Too bad they’re not redeemable for anything… :( LOL

Why would I hit you over Napoleon Dynamite? I know its a divisive movie, and has plenty of haters… But I, of course, am on the correct side of that battle! LOVE me some Napolean! :D Tina come and get yer food! Gahd! LOL That movie is brilliant.

Some nice choices there, for sure, but I’ll admit to not having seen “Super” :(

Oh hurray! I was afraid you might be one of those flabbergasted at the Napoleon Dynamite success. ;)

And I feel like such a sexist after that post, though, so in hindsight I’ll tack on Mildred Pierce, Amelie, Sofia Serrano (Vanilla Sky), and Cher from Clueless. Well, actually, that last one may confirm me as a sexist. Or a nonfeminist. It’s one of my secret cinematic enjoyments….